What Lives In Crescent Lake? Part I: Leeches!

There is a growing movement in Portage to develop Crescent Lake into something much more than it is today. As part of that conversation, HnH cameras caught up with former Portage la Prairian, Erica Smith, to give us some insights and helped debunk some myths surrounding what lives in, on and around the lake right now.

The fist segment, in this ongoing series, is on the topic of leeches. Is the lake filled with them? Will they attack and cover you if you go in the lake? What should you do if you get a leech stuck on you? Erica gives us the low down on all this and more. We were even lucky enough to get a quick lesson on how leeches reproduce.

So why did we talk to Erica Smith about this? Well she is a bug expert(entomologist) who earned an honours degree in zoology from the University of Manitoba and then went on to study aquatic insects at Memorial University in Newfoundland and has a passion for nature in general. She’s also a hometown girl who was born and raised here so she is very familiar with our lake.

Stay tuned for future segments on what we found and learned about the state of Crescent Lake.